Conventional commercial aircraft are designed with a vertical tail used to provide stability about the yaw axis. The vertical tail of an aircraft may include a fixed vertical stabilizer and a moveable rudder that is hinged at the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer. During normal flight operations, the vertical tail provides a force that allows a pilot to properly align and maintain control of the aircraft. By deflecting the rudder, the pilot increases the force created by the vertical tail to provide a desired yawing moment on the aircraft. The size of the vertical tail is determined according to the designed flight envelope in which the aircraft will operate and the necessary forces to sustain controlled flight within the boundaries of that envelope. For example, during emergency situations such as an engine failure or extremely high cross winds, the force required to be produced by the vertical tail to maintain control of the aircraft may be at a maximum. During aircraft design, this force is calculated and the vertical tail is sized accordingly to ensure the capability of producing this force in the event that those emergency situations or flight operations at the boundaries of the desired flight envelope arise.
However, as the size of the vertical tail increases, the corresponding weight of the aircraft increases, as does the amount of drag generated by the vertical tail. As weight and drag increase, the cost of manufacturing and operating the resulting aircraft also increase. Even though the forces required by the vertical tail of an aircraft to maintain stability during normal flight operations would permit a decrease in the size of a conventional vertical tail, reducing the size of the vertical tail is not feasible due to the need to prepare for operations at the edges of the designed flight envelope.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.